I never thought that I would be sitting here, adapting to the modern movement of a digital landscape, but here we are. For context, I am a country girl from a coastal town in Western Australia, I grew up in old growth forest in a small house that my parents built with their own hands, It had a wood fire and fabric pinned to the doorways in place of wooden doors, a place so quiet from the noise of the world outside, you can hear the trees tell you their secrets. You might be curious to know what the catalyst may have been for this shift in me, and it honestly started as a slow burn, I know the creatives reading this are going to resonate with the following words.
As people who are true alchemists through the taming of fire and metal, the dance of a paintbrush, the somatic storytelling of movement, the caressing of clay, the weaving of cloth; so full of love, magic and ancient wisdom to it’s very core, we all have one thing in common, and that is our instinctual need to be submerged in a sphere of uninterrupted creation, a place where time does not exist. I know speaking for myself at least, the clutter of thoughts associated with technology, social media, and that old chestnut…self-promotion, absolutely exhausting. It takes away from time I could be using to create, it makes a dusty, dirty mess in my inspired mind, and I do not like it, I have avoided it, run away from it and just downright rejected it.
But this is where things slowly changed in the way my stone solid mindset started to soften a little. Firstly, a close friend who is also a creative soul, a person who always tells me what they really think and does not even give me the little ego stroke of humouring me, he has always told me to embrace what technology can bring, and always challenges me to really debate my points, I won’t lie; and he will love to read this, but I will then have to engage in some fantastic Houdini style diversion to then go and lick my wounds, and eventually give some very deep thought to what we had discussed.
Secondly, during a trip to my hometown for an art exhibition I was taking part in, I visited the tip shop (A favourite pastime of my fellow townsfolk). This was a place of pure magical adventure for me as a child, a wild west littered with discarded treasures, from chandeliers that my mother turned into rainbow making windchimes, to toys and other useful things my working-class family recycled (especially my father who can make, fix, or solve anything. He is the real-life MacGyver!). It is no longer an open place to explore, in the middle of no-where, I suppose not only do things change but the local council probably had some concerns about all the town’s locals knee deep in landfill. Which now I really think about it was pretty dangerous, imagine a cross between the rubbish lady from Labyrinth and a sinkhole of undiscovered treasure, well not all treasure….My aforementioned father, who yes, is a bit of a genius, but also makes very odd choices, like bringing home a rotting whale bone, and thinking that putting it on an ants nest, will just sort that right out (I bet that’s what the person who found it, and then dumped it, for my dad to find, thought also). I am getting very off topic now, but one of my oldest friends who is just made from all the best things, brought me to the now well organised rubbish tip shop, with its sheds of furniture and car parts, bathtubs and pianos, books and stationery from the 1990’s that someone had hoarded (which I did buy and am now hoarding, I like old stained paper, what can I say) and I found a wonderful book titled “Craft In Australia” by Allan Moult. This book was published in 1984 and it is a refreshingly honest book, featuring many artists across different mediums, and I was honestly surprised to see they share the same gripes and worries that current artists are feeling, I was always harping on about how the past must have been so much better for artists, without all the pressures of technology, but maybe I have been seeing this all wrong.
Now, while lying in bed reading late at night, one section of this book made me almost choke on my valerian, passionflower tea! A potter by the name of Vic Greenaway said this, when talking about the future of his craft “You have performers and performing arts, but craftsmen are not performers and I object to being asked to perform, yet invariably that happens” I feel this exact sentiment with things like tiktok and reels, social media and just self-promotion in general. Maybe we are just resistant to change? And it gave me a lot to think about.
Then the final catalyst was the biggest one. I smashed my phone (accident or not, that is not the point) but everything came to rest on the upper point of the triangle that is ruled by my incessant thinking. I lost everything, all my photos, everything! Did I back it up? You bet I didn’t. I had been milling around the idea of “Tales Around the Jewel Fire” for a long time now, I used to write, but that has been shadowed by my jewellery making of late, I do get to create with words when describing the depth behind my pieces, but I also want to tell the stories of others, and talk in depth about the incredible people I have experienced life with and the beautiful experiences we have had. Not only will I be sharing my artwork, jewellery, and stories, but I will be inviting others to take part in thought provoking interviews and showcasing their creations and experiences too.
I did have to bite the bullet and buy a new phone (The one I would of needed for this project) and to start utilizing all the other useful tools we have at our fingertips (Like backing up all my photos). So there were really no excuses left for me to keep putting this on the backburner. I am excited for the next chapter, for the warm flames that comfort my weary mind and the swirling smoke that seems to follow, no matter where you move, that same smoke that carries words of wisdom and wonder, fading into the night sky, and for the shimmering gems we collect from the ashes when the sun rises.
From that jumbled mess, here I am, and the vision is clear.
Welcome to Tales Around the Jewel Fire
